A New Hope
by katiejo90
Summary: Lexie lived a simple life, that was until her mom and dad got killed before she got raped. But what happens when she is sent to live with the Cullens? ExB RxE AxJ Lexie and the newest cullen. First fanfic please be gentle! REVIEW! All human!
1. Chapter 1My Story

First Chapter

The small town of Auburn, Alabama is where my life started, and in the small town in Alabama is where it came close to ending. I can remember those two years as clear as I can remember yesterday…

_Flashback:_

"STOP! STOP! Please let me go!!" I cried out as he smiled the sickening smile that made my hair on the back of my neck stand up on the back of my neck, and goose bumps form all over my body. I was standing face to face with the man that made my life living hell for two years, before my hero came and rescued me. Logan James was the man that degraded me, made me feel like no more than a piece of dirt on his shoe. But worst of all, Logan James was the man that raped and beat me for his own personal pleasure.

_Flashback to present:_

To this day I still don't know who my hero is that saved me from certain death. Because of Logan James, I am where I am today. In the Mary Children's and Young Adults center. What I forgot to mention was that Logan James killed my parents before coming after me.

I have been staying at the Mary Children's center for a year now. Nobody seems to want a healthy (well kind of) 17 year old girl. All of the couples that visit the facility always seem to want a bouncing baby boy or a toddler that can barely walk. I only have one more year before send me on my own. Where would I go? When I thought nothing could possible get worse it always does.

I was cut of my thoughts by the girl I share a room with, Monica. She like everybody else here hates me.

"Lexi?! Lexi?! Are you listening to what I'm saying?!"

She stood in front of me trying to look menacing. It was nearly impossible for her to even look somewhat mean. She was 13 with Shirley temple blonde ringlet curls and thought she was god's gift to men, a true heartbreaker if you ask me.

"Um sure?" I'm pretty sure that it came out more as a question, but she seem satisfied with my answer and walked out of the room, probably to hang out with her boyfriend of the week.

It's not that I try to be mean and depressing, people just see me that way because of my background and where I come from. I was originally born in New York and was your practical city girl. The big sunglasses, the expensive purses, and my dream car in the driveway every morning. I wasn't spoiled, my parent's just thought that I needed to be treated like the girl that I am. I learned responsibility the hard way and got rewarded for it.

I was one of the most popular girls in school, back when I was happy. I have long curly blonde hair and Kelly green eyes. Lot's of people think that I have a low self esteem, which is not entirely true. I'm confessing that I like the way I look, I'm 5'6 and skinny with some curves, I just feel that I don't deserve to look the way I look. I constantly blame myself for what happened to my parents and my brother. I shouldn't have been listening to music with my door shut tight, I should have had my door open so I would have heard the gun shot and called the cops before it was too late. I could have saved them. I know that I could of and yet I didn't.

I wiped the tears that were streaming down my face, I haven't cried for a while; I left all of my tears in New York when I left the day after my family's funeral. My tears soon turned into sobs, and I found myself crying in the corner. I deserved all of the pain that anybody put on me, but I didn't deserve to cry. My parent's and my brother would want me to move on and be happy. This is extremely hard when I am where I am.

The phone rang, when I stopped my crying. The caller I.D said that it was Maria. Why would she be calling me? Maria worked at the adoption agency, and was one of the few people that were nice to me. I met her when I first came into the center. She was a tall and lanky middle aged woman.

"Hello, This is Lexie speaking."

"Hi Lexie! How have you been sweetie? Are they treating you well?" I smiled at how much her concern affected me.

"Yes ma'am, their treating me quite well. Not to be rude, but may I ask why your calling at such a late hour?" It was now coming up to 8:30 and the stars were twinkling in the sky as if to explain to me how great and promising life could be, if I just put my guard down.

"Actually Alexis dear, I have wonderful news!" I cringed at my full name. It's not that I don't like my full name; it just takes me back to those two horrible years. He would always whisper my full name in my ear as I thrashed in pain and fear of what was surely to come.

"Oh really? What's the good news?" I feigned happiness. I got off the couch and made my way towards the bed. All this stress of what I'm doing when I get out of my current home has really been taking a toll on how well I sleep at night.

"Well honey, I need you to come to my office tonight at about 9:00." Oh no. This could only mean one thing, a foster home! I couldn't do this, not again. Nobody could replace my mom and dad, but whenever I go to a foster home, the foster parents always try to replace them. Maria was sill chattering on the phone while I had my semi-mental breakdown. I interrupted her, my voice shaking slightly.

"I…I can't tonight. I'm um…not feeling well at the moment." I lied straight through my teeth. My family always told me that I was a horrible liar, but I was hoping, no praying that just this once Maria would believe my very badly said lie.

"Oh fine then…Wait! How did you know I was going to place you in a foster home?!" I laughed at her eagerness. She was always trying to put me in a place with a nice family that would love me, all of me. Some just didn't like my attitude, others didn't like my presence, then some of them didn't like my background story. They thought it wasn't good enough to go tell their friends over a round of beers. But whatever, I know that my family will come…maybe.

"Well, anytime you call it's to either to tell Monica to stop making out with her flavor of the week in the janitors closet, or to tell me that I'm going to a new foster home." I chewed on my nails as the line went silent.

"Ok I'll just call the family and reschedule for tomorrow afternoon then." In the background I could hear her fingers typing away on the computer, probably typing an email to the family. I finally gave up, maybe this family would be the one where they wanted me there. Maybe, just maybe I can actually try to be happy and have a positive attitude and not just pretend. But knowing me and how I am, I'm sure that my shyness will take over.

"Ok. I'll come down at about noon. Is that ok?" I played with a string that was hanging off of my bedspread, waiting patiently for her to answer.

"Yes sweetie that will be just dandy. Now you be careful and get some rest so you will feel better and I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Good Night Hun." She hung up before I had the chance to return her pleasantries. I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was coming up on 10:00. I crawled underneath my covers thinking about what was to come tomorrow.

I couldn't believe that tomorrow they would probably be shipping me off to another family. I closed my eyes letting sleep over take me thinking one last thought. Maybe I can try to be nice. First impressions count, right?


	2. Chapter 2 The Meeting

Chapter 2- The Meeting

I woke up the next morning in a cold sweat from the nightmares that haunted me yet again. But, this nightmare had to be the worst so far. In my nightmare I was face to face with the human form of the devil, Logan James. This time he had a rope tied around my mom, dad, and brother's neck as I watched them get pushed off of a cliff to their death, while I watched in horror with my feet plastered to the floor. Let's just say after that little adventure of horror, I woke up screaming.

I rolled out of bed and gathered my bathroom linens to take a shower. I slept in till about 10:00 so it would give me hour and a half to get ready to meet my future foster parents.

After my shower (which was very refreshing might I add) I dressed in the cutest outfit that I own. It was the only outfit I took with me from my first home in New York. A pair of dark stonewashed skinny jeans and my black ACDC shirt and a pair of hot pink shiny flats to finish the outfit off.

It took me a while to get my look completely finished. With my hair blow dried and curly I took a glance at the clock and almost ran out the door. It was 11:50! HOLY SMOKES!! I have to go! I rushed out of the door and almost forgot my purse.

Maria's office was 3 floors down from my dorm that I shared with Monica. I stood in the elevator anxiously waiting to what would happen behind the closed doors of Maria's office. Would the couple or single parent like me? Or would they think I'm too old? Whatever happens behind the closed doors would hopefully be the end of moving from foster home to foster home for me.

The elevator dinged signaling my arrival to the 4th floor, as I walked off the elevator, my legs and arms were shaking as well as the butterflies in my stomach. I somehow made my way to Maria's door which was at the end of the hallway. As I stood outside the door I heard the lovely voice of a woman as well as a man. I hesitated, should I go in, or should I be a coward and run from the door and make up an excuse on why I couldn't attend the meeting?

Well it was now or never. I opened up the door to find Maria sitting behind her desk in front of two couples. I hesitated scared to go in and face the future. "Oh! There you are Alexis! Come around here and meet Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." She motioned to the couple in front of her, and then motioned to the seat next to her behind her desk. I knew what was coming next; they would take one look at me then say, "I'm sorry we have to go it's an emergency." And I would never be in their presence again. I was praying that this couple would see me differently.

As I sat down in my chair I took in the presence of the couple. They were gorgeous! That is the only word to describe the way they looked. The woman of the two had caramel colored hair with a heart shaped face and green eyes. She was absolutely beautiful. The man had blonde wavy hair that was styled in just the right way with blue eyes and a masculine yet soft face. To put it simply, they were a site to behold. I hadn't noticed that Maria was talking until she gestured towards me.

"This is Alexis. She's beautiful isn't she? She's one of our most trusted older girls of the home." I glanced up from my hands and smiled at the couple.

"She is beautiful. I'm Esme and this is my husband Carlisle. He's a surgeon in a hospital in Forks, and I'm a stay at home architect." She looked at me with a warm smile that was literally inviting me in and saying that maybe I had a chance. What I was questioning though was where they said they lived.

"If you don't mind me asking, um…where exactly is Forks?" I looked down at my lap nervously. I don't know why I was nervous all of a sudden; maybe it was because they were actually showing some interest in me.

"Oh Hun, you should never be nervous to ask a question. Forks is a little town in Washington, it rains there most of the time, but when it doesn't the forests and town is absolutely breathtaking. We live in a house that's someway off the main road kind of in the middle of the forest. But since we live under tree's, when it's raining it only feels like a little pitter patter to us." She reached for the Carlisle hand and turned back to me with a questioning look in both of their eyes. "So Alexis, tell us what you do for fun. You know your hobbies or just your interests." It was Carlisle that spoke this time.

"Well Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, I love to sing. It's truly my passion. I also love dogs. When I lived in New York, I had a Pomeranian named Buggy and oh was he a sight to see. He was black and really cute. Oh and I also have a thing for cars. I can't tell you what's under the hood but I can tell you whether a BMW is a 3 series, or a 5 series and I can spot a Mercedes from a mile away." I became a little more comfortable with their presence.

"That's wonderful. Oh and you can call us by our names, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen are too formal." She smile and continued "So you said that you sing right?" I nodded and when I did she got a smile that stretched from ear to ear. She glanced at Carlisle as if having a silent conversation. "Well Alexis, our son Edward plays the piano quite well and I bet he would be delighted to have you sing something for him while he plays. That is if you would want to come to our house and live with us for a while?" she looked up at me with questioning eyes. Did she not think that I would say yes? This couple is the only couple that has taken sudden interest in me since I came to this home I smiled and nodded my head furiously. She laughed and came behind the desk to give me hug, as Carlisle did also.

Maria was staring at us with tears in her eyes. She pointed to the door and told me to go get my things together and meet all of them down out front in 10 minutes. As I got up and left I made my way upstairs, and thought of how wonderful this could all turn out, Maybe.

As I left my room with suitcase in hand, I made my way towards the front entrance of the building. What I didn't expect was the car waiting for me. It was a black SCL600 Mercedes. It was beautiful, and it was one of my many dream cars. I made my way towards the car in almost a dreamlike state with my mouth open in awe.

"Oh Alexis you are just going to have such a splendid time!" Maria rushed over to give me a hug. Carlisle came and took my suitcase from me and told me to get into the car. He was the quieter one of the two from what I have seen. Esme was literally bouncing in her seat from utter excitement, why though I'm not sure.

"Oh honey you're just going to love Forks! And our kids too, they will be lined up at the door step to meet you." She turned around in her seat to look at me. My face paled, kids? Carlisle returned to the car, before driving off he took his wife hands and smiled at her, I could see the love connection between them.

"Oh kids? Um how many exactly."

"Oh aside from Edward there are 5 of them. Emmett and Rosalie are both 18, and Elijah, Alice, Jasper, and Edward are 17 so you'll fit right in! Alice will absolutely love you, she'll want to take you to the mall, and do makeovers with you. Oh and Edward and Elijah would want you to sing while they play. Also Edward has a fiancée named Bella and she usually stays with us. All of our children are adopted and coupled together. Emmett and Rosalie, and Alice and Jasper. The only one who isn't coupled with somebody is Elijah and well he doesn't really get out much except for school. " I smiled and nodded, finally teens my own age who might actually like me and get along with me.

"Alright you two, we'll be at the airport in about 15 minutes and the car will arrive there tomorrow. We should be home at about 3 o'clock." Carlisle took his eyes off the road and smiled at me in the rearview mirror. I just couldn't help but smile back. These people, who didn't even know me would just take me into their home and treat me like their own.

"Ok. I can't wait to meet them, if their as friendly as you guys are, I'm sure I'll love them. Oh and if Alice does want to go shopping, I can't wait." Esme smile then turned back around. The rest of the car ride to the airport was silent except for the small humming of the car radio.

When we arrived at the airport Carlisle took our luggage and we made our way towards the gates. We boarded the plane and when I went to take a seat in coach Carlisle simply shook his head, grabbed Esme's hand and headed towards first class. I chuckled under my breath at the easiness of these people. They acted like having money, which the obviously had, was no big deal and decided not to flaunt it.

The plane ride lasted just as long as Carlisle estimated and as we gathered our luggage Carlisle and Esme turned in the other direction instead of going straight to the door to leave we turned the other way and was greeted by two people. More than likely one of their sons and daughters. I smiled as they embraced. Esme turned to me and took my hand.

"Alexis, this is Edward and his fiancée Bella." I stared wide eyed and mouth agape. He was the most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes on. I must have been staring for to long, I tore my eyes from Edward and went to shake Edwards hand.

"Hi. I'm Alexis but everyone can call me Lexie, Alexis is to formal. It's very nice to meet you." I shook Bella's hand also.

"Ok well let's head home. I'm pretty sure Emmett is bouncing off the walls, as well as Alice. I really hope those two don't break anything while we're not there. I swear those two are like a couple of 5 year olds." I chuckled under my breath as Carlisle shook his head at how his other son and daughter must act. We went out to Edwards car, which was a beautiful silver Volvo might I add, and started our way to hopefully my future home.

The drive to their house was beautiful. All along the road were tree's that had moss growing on their trunks while the water droplets from the rain danced off of the leaves. As we turned into the driveway couldn't believe the house. It was huge and beautiful! The house was a white mansion with a 4 car garage and what looked like to be three stories. As we got out of the car I became suddenly nervous, why is the question though.

As we neared the house, suitcase and purse in hand I was scared to death. What if they don't like me? What if this family isn't really what it turns out to be? What if I have to start cutting myself again? I haven't really told anybody but since my family passed away every time something gets tough I get the razor out of my pillowcase and take out my anger out.

When we approached the door a very muscular figure came barging out of the door.

"Oh mommy oh daddy your home!!" I laughed at how ridiculous he looked. He was about 6'3 with brown curly hair and was very beautiful as well as his brother. They were a good looking bunch so far.

"Emmett get off me this instance. When you get inside we'll introduce you." Emmett. That's his name. Well It he looks like an Emmett…kind of. I noticed him peek around Esme's shoulder at me. I waved shyly and he laughed loudly. Carlisle led us inside the house and I wasn't prepared for what was awaiting inside.

The other four teens were gathered in the living room waiting for my arrival. And man, were they a sight to see! They were all so beautiful! Carlisle motioned for me to take a seat on the love chair next to Bella who hadn't moved her eyes away from Edward. I could see the love connection every time they glanced each other's way. Carlisle stood to speak,

"Well as you all know these past couple of days your mother and I have been in Alabama in search for another innocent heart," he shot a glance towards me and continued "Well everybody this is Alexis, but as she has told us she prefers Lexie. Emmett no big bear hugs yet." Emmett pouted a puppy dog pout while the beautiful blonde caressed his shoulder lovingly.

I stood up and waved shyly to everybody. The girl with the black spiky hair was bouncing with excitement. She stood up and ran to give me a big hug. I awkwardly hugged her back. She released me and gave me a once over.

"Hi! I'm Alice and oh my you have a great complexion, and your style could use a little work but oh my you are beautiful I can't wait to go shopping and have makeover's with you!!" I chuckled at her enthusiasm. She motioned toward the blonde attractive man who was sitting next to her whom I didn't see.

"This is my boyfriend Jasper. He's originally from Texas and I'm originally from California. And yet I'm unusually pale…" I shook hands with Jasper, out of nowhere Emmett picked me up into the biggest hug I have ever had all the while saying, "Hi! I'm Emmett, but you already know that and we are going to have so much fun! Oh and this fine blonde here is my fiancée Rosalie." He put me down and I looked at Rosalie. My self confidence went down 300%. She was beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful here. I didn't expect the next thing Emmett said to come out of his mouth.

"You know Rosie, If Edward and you had a kid," He grabbed Rosalie around her waist and pulled her closer to him, "which you never will, that's what she would look like." We all stared at him in amusement. I was the first to bust out in fits in laughter. That was not what I have expected! I heard a bustling coming from outside; I took a quick glance at the door when a tall figure came in. I had to look back at the door again.

In walked the most beautiful male I have ever seen to walk the face of the earth. He was tall and had a mild tan with dimples and from what I have seen through his shirt he had muscles. Not as muscular as Emmett but just enough to be perfect. He had a sculpted jaw and face with blue eyes that would make your knees tremble and your heart melt.

I haven't even noticed he was standing in front of me until he gave me a once over, gave me his hand to shake and introduced himself.

"Hi. I'm Elijah and you are?"


	3. Authors Note PLEASE READ AND COMMENT

Authors Note:

Should I make Lexi's and Elijah's relationship move slow, and build up to it? Or jump right into it. I'm not so sure right now. That's why it's been taking me so long to write chapter 3. I've been struggling with the relationship so far. So I'm asking my readers their opinion! Please comment to so I can have your intake on it. I also will take any ideas on what you want to happen or what you would like to change in the story!

Thank You 


	4. Chapter 4 Bonding

Chapter Three- Bonding

I stood there staring at the boy, no man, in front of me. I couldn't form words or find coherency to tell him my name. I gathered myself and spoke, "Hi, I'm Lexie." He smile then took my hand and kissed it all the while winking at me. I probably blushed 4 shades of red! I could hear Emmett laughing in the background saying something along the lines of, "Looks like we have another Bella." Or something like that. What it meant though I wasn't sure, I would have to ask him about that later. I knew at that moment that I would want to spend more time with him, and the rest of this family for that matter. I also knew that I couldn't allow myself to grow close to any of them, unless they want me to stay permanently. I drew my hand back and smiled the Hollywood worth smile that I knew knocked guys off their feet when they saw it.

"It's nice to meet you Elijah." He nodded and went to ask Emmett if he wanted to play video games. I smiled and turned back around to the girls and saw they were just staring at me wide eyed with big smiles on their faces. I looked at them innocently; I had no clue why they were looking at me like that for. "Umm...guys? What did I do to make your faces look like that?" I laughed and Alice just shook her head, "Eli, has never showed interest in a girl. We all thought he was gay. Oh wow this should be fun!" she winked as we all worked our way upstairs to bond a little bit, I just knew that I really hoped that they wanted me to stay.

As we walked the winding staircase I'm pretty sure that my mouth was open the whole entire time. The walls that surrounded the stairs were beautiful, lined with pictures of when they were little and recently as I could see. Though at one picture I stopped at, it was a picture of a man with black hair and green eyes, he looked oddly familiar but I just couldn't put face to name. I saw Rosalie, Bella, and Alice all stop on the staircase.

"Hey Lex, you ok?" I nodded my head toward the picture and asked the question that was floating in my mind for the last few seconds. "Yeah Rose, um who is this?" I pointed at the picture. Rose stepped down a couple of steps to see who I was talking about, she smiled and spoke, "Oh that's my dad's close friend Matthew, and he's a good guy. Why?" I just shook my head and started walking up the stairs to catch up with the others. "No reason. He just looks oddly familiar." They left the conversation at that which I was glad for. When we got into Alice's room I smiled and laughed. Her room was HUGE! It had pink and white walls that just screamed girly. The bed was a 4 poster size, with a hot pink and white lace bedspread. From what I've met of her, it screamed Alice! She ushered me into her room and went straight to the closet. OH NO! I forgot that she loved shopping, well great! I tried to slowly back out of the room before she noticed but of course she dragged me back into her scary dungeon!

"Alice I don't think this is necessary. I like my clothes perfectly fine." Bella was laughing beside me, I guess she knew what was coming, I sure as hell didn't. Alice was rummaging through her closet looking for something to fit me, which was probably highly impossible because she was probably 3 sizes below me. As I was thinking this a shirt landed on my head blocking my view from anything that was in front me, I took it off my head and looked at it with a critical eye. I mean the shirt was cute, just a little too tight, it was a hot pink tank top that crossed in the back, it was really cute but with me looking like I do it wouldn't look cute one me also I swear I thought my cleavage would pop out at any second!

Another thing was chucked out of the closet at me, they were tight jeans, "Alice are you trying to kill me? I won't be able to fit my ass in this!" She popped her head out of the closed and threw a pair of pink flats at me and pointed to the bathroom next to her closet. I threw off my clothes and threw on my new ones and looked in the mirror, I actually looked cute, not hot but cute. I stepped out and Bella was sitting on the bed motioning for me to be quiet, out of nowhere Alice and Rosalie appeared in front of me with a curling iron and a makeup bag. I started backing up until my legs hit the bed and I fell, they took my arms and dragged me to the bathroom despite my protests.

"Guys really why am I getting all glammed up for? We're not doing anything. Or are we?" Rosalie stopped curling my hair and Alice finished with my makeup. "Um, Lexie all of us, except for Carlisle and Esme are going to dinner at Kobe the sushi restaurant. Did anybody tell you?" I shook my head and she turned me to the mirror, I gasped at the reflection. I looked like Rosalie!

"Ok this is scary; I look like your twin!" Rosalie glanced at me and smiled, "Well we're pretty hot then!" I high fived her when I heard someone knock on the door. I waited for one of them to get it but saw they were too preoccupied to care. Alice was doing her hair, Rosalie was doing her makeup, and Bella was reading. I sighed and got up to answer the door, but wasn't expecting to see who was behind it.

There was Eli (as the girls called him) looking fine as hell. He had on a simple black button down with some jeans and black shoes. He had the first couple of buttons undone at the top so you could peek a glance at his chest, which looked very sculpted. "Oh hi." I nervously glanced at his face and saw that he was looking directly into my eyes, I cleared my throat and I could of swore that I saw some pink rising into his cheeks, it was the hottest thing I've ever seen.

"Um… I was just told to come up here and tell you ladies that it's time to go." He winked and gave me another once over. I could feel the goose bumps rising on my arms. I turned around and saw that Rosalie, Bella, and Alice emerged from the bathroom looking very beautiful. "Wow guys I'm sure that they guys downstairs won't know what to do once they see us." I laughed at went to go out the door but was stopped when I ran into Eli. "Oh sorry I thought that you left." I looked up at him doe eyed, and innocent until he turned around and walked down the hall to the stairs.

Alice, Bella, and Rosalie were laughing behind me. "Wow, Lexie I've never seen Eli speechless before. Whatever you did, you should do It more often!" We walked down the hall and down the stairs to the awaiting guys. It seemed like all of the guys fairly matched their loved ones. Bella had a deep blue summer dress on and Edward had on a white button down with a deep blue vest over it with black dress pants. Rosalie had on a Red strapless shirt that laced up in the back with black skinny jeans and red pumps, as to Emmett had on a red button down with blue jeans on. Finally Alice had on a yellow, red, and orange, and white summer halter dress on, and Jasper had on a White button down with jeans.

As I was standing at the back of all of the couples I heard Alice discussing the car arrangements. "Ok Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and I will ride in the jeep. Bella and Edward can ride in the Ashton Martin." She paused and I could mentally see her wheels turning in her head. She was going to make Elijah and I ride together, in the same car, for an hour. OH MY GOSH! If she does she's got something else coming to her. "Oh and Lex, and Eli can ride in the Ferrari." She glanced at me as if daring me to object. Before I could Eli ran his mouth and did it for me, at least I thought he would object. "Ok that's fine, well let's get a move on. It takes an hour to get there and our reservations are a 7 and It's 5:30 already so let's get a move on." He looked down at me and smiled a breathtaking, panty dropping smile.

As we made it to the garage I swear my mouth would stay dropped forever. There was the Ferrari F430 in a fire truck red. I thought I couldn't like this family any better but It turns out you can. Eli was at the other side of the car smirking. "Well are you going to get in or stare at my baby all day?" I gave him the doe eyed look and said, "Well I found one thing I just might want to take for a test drive, let's say on the way home?" I bit my lip to add in the effect.

'..s-s-sure." I chuckled under my breath and got into the car. I thought I almost had a heart attack by looking at the outside, the inside was much better. The seats were black leather and were probably the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in. Pulling out of the driveway we followed the others to the highway and beyond. The sounds of the radio filling the voiding silence between us.

We were about 30 minutes from the restaurant when Eli asked me a question. "Not to be rude or snooping but I'm curious about something." I glanced over at him wanting him to continue. "Well what's your story?" I looked at him questionably . "My Story?" he chuckled and glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "You know why were you sent to the adoption home?"

I could feel the tears burning in my eyes, I couldn't find the answer. Should I tell him the whole story? Or just make up something that sounds fairly like the real story? "Well my parents and brother died, and I don't have any family so I got sent to the adoption center." I choked back my tears at the lie I just told.

"I know that's not the truth, but I'm not going to force it out of you, but just so you know Lex, when you want to talk I'm here." He took my hand and smiled then released it. I hadn't realized we were at the restaurant until my door was opened for me. We met the others at the table that had a grill in the middle of it. I think Edward could tell what I was thinking and said, "They cook the food in front of you." I blushed and took my seat next to Rosalie who was on my left, with Eli who was on my right.

I took a look at the menu and almost had a brain problem. I didn't know what any of this stuff was. It sounded great but I didn't know what it was. I could see out of the corner of my eye Eli put his menu down and turned to me. "So what are you going to get." I eyed the menu and huffed in frustration. "I don't even know. I've never even heard of these things before. What are you getting?"

"Um chicken teriyaki, and a order of California rolls." I looked at him with a question mark probably written over my face. "What's a California roll?" he chuckled and explained to me that it was a type of sushi with crab meat, and cucumber in it. It sounded appetizing. The waiter came around, and was kind of cute. Not like Eli cute but cute enough to grab some ones attention. Everybody made their rounds and when he got to me he winked and a chill went down my side, it was quite disgusting. He reminded me of James which scared me even more. "Umm...I'll have the chicken teriyaki and an order or California rolls, please." He took my menu and leaned down and whispered, "You can have whatever you like." I once again forced back the tears that were threatening to spill over while Elijah ordered his meal.

After we ordered and they were all in conversation with each other I excused myself to the bathroom. I don't know why that bothered me so much. I'm sure that no one noticed me slip away, except for Alice. How would I know? I can hear the heels click as I leaned over the sink. I could hear her asking me what's wrong, but I couldn't answer. My mind kept replaying the torturous things that James put me through. I hate how the flashback happened right at this moment. These flashbacks always have a way to come back to me when I least expect and want it.

"Lexie, honey why don't you tell me what happened. Are you feeling sick?" I shook my head and pulled my head up to look at Alice. She had concern and wonder written all over her face. I wiped any stray tears, stood up and faced Alice. "I'll tell you girls later ok. I just don't want to ruin everybody's dinner with my pity problems." She nodded but her eyes told me the truth. She wanted to know what was happening right now!

As we walked back to the table the same guy who was our waiter, I think his name was Justin, winked at me and while I passed him had the nerve to smack me on the butt. Alice stopped and turned towards Justin with a look that the quote where looks could kill came into place. "Excuse me but do you have any self respect at all?" The guy just shrugged and winked at me again. "You know we can ditch them and come back to my place where we'll stay up all night. You won't be able to walk tomorrow." The tears in my eyes spilled over and ran down the sides of my cheeks. "I'm telling your manager, and you will get fired." She took my arm and dragged me back to the table. Everyone was quiet when we walked in. They looked at my tear soaked face and started firing off questions. "What happened Lexie? Are you ok?" I nodded my head but Alice knew that I would tell her later.

Our food came and went and now I officially love sushi. It's so good with soy sauce. Also the teriyaki chicken wasn't bad but I would prefer sushi over that any day.

As we walked out to the car, I saw Justin from across the parking lot looking my way, I grabbed Eli's arm and made it look like I was with him. He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "Oh stop Eli, that guy who was our waiter is freaking me out ok. Maybe If I hold your arm he'll leave me alone." I was correct. Once Eli spotted Justin, he raised an eyebrow and wore a menacing look as if saying I dare you to do something. He didn't look my way for the rest of the walk to the car, which wasn't that far.

Let's just say the ride home was anything but boring. We cranked up the stereo and he sang off key while I laughed my head off at him. I wasn't about to sing in front of him just yet. I wouldn't want to unleash him to that yet. We beat all the others home, which was a surprise because we left after them. I got out of the car and literally ran up the stairs. I beat Eli there and almost tripped before he caught me in his arms. Let's just say that his arms are my new favorite place to be. I blushed and stood back up before I walked in. Carlisle and Esme were cuddling on the couch watching a movie looking as cute as can be; I didn't want to disturb them therefore I snuck upstairs and went to the middle hallway when I remembered something, they never showed me my room.

I wandered the many hallways for a couple of minutes before I came to a closed door, I knocked and heard music coming from the door. I knew who's door it was but was still a little nervous to be at it right now. He opened the door wearing dark blue basketball shorts and no shirt. I could of passed out at the sight, he had an 8 pack and the most delicious hip bones ever. "Umm..hey sorry to bother you but your sisters never showed me my room and I'm wondering if you know where it is." He chuckled and pointed to the door across to the right of his. I turned back to him and literally blushed and started walking towards it. I could sense his presence behind me. I opened the door and my breath was sucked right out of me. The bedroom was beautiful. It had a bed to the right of the door that was a light oak wood with a plum purple bed spread with white lace around the edges. The walls were painted a lighter purple with the dark purple lining the room. In shorter words it was beautiful.

He walked over and laid down on my bed stretching. "Well they got you the comfiest bed in the house. I could lie here all day." He grabbed a pillow and smashed his face into it while I was standing near the couch that stood by the window. If he started snoring I would die. He couldn't fall asleep in here! I was chased out of my thoughts by Eli, of course. "Hey if you don't mind me asking, what was wrong with you at the restaurant? You seemed kind of creeped out by something." I turned towards him and saw that he was sitting up against the headboard looking scrumptious as always.

"Oh that it was nothing." I went and sat on the edge of the bed fiddling with a string hanging off of the bedspread. "Lexie don't tell me it was nothing I know it was something, but I understand if you don't want to tell me. I can tell that you have a trust issue." I nodded my head and looked up at him. Maybe I could tell him, maybe I could learn to trust, I would have to because I know that this will work out. I know it will.

"Eli do you really want to know my past?" he sat up a little straighter and motioned to the space next to him. "Only if you want to tell me, I just want to know so when Esme and Carlisle adopt you, we'll know the story so I can avoid things that make you tick by it." I nodded and scooted up towards the seat that he motioned.

"If I start crying just let me be ok."

"Ok. Just go from start to finish, I won't say a peep." He acted like he zipped his mouth shut. I told him my story and the tears that I warned him about spilled over my eyes, and down my cheeks. When I was finished I told him about what happened at dinner tonight. "I got so creeped out because after he took my order he said I could have whatever I wanted. Then Logan James used to say something similar to that, I cried in the bathroom because I was embarrassed about a pity thing like that, but on the way back from the bathroom he looked at me and winked and when I walked past him he smacked my butt. I could of broke down right there" I started sobbing about now, and yet I continued "I felt like a dirty whore, then he said that I should ditch you all and go home with him. He would keep me up all night and in the morning I wouldn't be able to walk. Logan always said those things to me before he raped me. I'm just a dirty little whore of a slut that didn't know how to protect herself." I leaned my head in my hands and cried for I don't know how long.

Eli grabbed me and pulled me halfway into his lap and let me bury my face into his shoulder while he buried his face into my hair. "You might want to talk to Rosalie about this if you ever want to talk woman to woman about it. Her situation was highly similar to yours. Never be afraid to talk to me about anything. I'll always be here. Always" he whispered always over and over in my ear. Almost like a lullaby. "I'll never hurt you Alexis, Never." Those were the words we fell asleep to, in each other's embrace.


End file.
